CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Today banks are one of the most important units of the public, and have fundamental functions that cannot be override by private or corporate sectors of the general economy. The development of a growing economy and the advancement in a developed economy primarily holds its nodes on the banking sector and most especially, commercial banks. Daily transactions and exchange of goods and services require the endorsement of commercial banks for smooth running. Since the fundamental work of banks, many researchers try to get full advantage of new technology to increase customer satisfaction. Therefore this research is focused on analyzing the queues to optimize services of the banks at the teller counter and the ATM to reduce customers waiting time and increase service satisfaction.
Waiting in lines or “queues” seems to be a pastime in some developed economy. Think about the many times you had to wait in line in the last month or year or over the time and frustration that was associated with those waits. Whether we are in line at the grocery store checkout, the barbershop, the stoplight, or in the banking hall or ATM booths, “waiting our turn” is part of our everyday life.
Queuing theory is the formal study of waiting in line and is an entire discipline within the field of operations management. The purpose of this chapter is to envisage the general background into queuing theory and queuing systems, its associated terminology, and how queuing theory relates to customer satisfaction. Also, past and present applications of queuing technology and what banks can do to manage customer queues more efficiently will be discussed. Finally, automated queuing technology will be described.